Previous | Next :: The Place The Kitty Was Lost : Joplin Tornado Damage Zone : Missouri | June 15, 2011, 2:28 am

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I was standing in the ruins of Joplin....... in the zone of destruction that the Tornado had created as it ripped through the town leaving a gash 3/4 of a mile wide .......... this was my third evening standing here.......... at this same place ........

Professionally ...... I guess I could say I was drawn back here to this spot to shoot the outline of the cross against the almost dark sky........ St Mary's catholic Church was destroyed but its giant crucifix remains poignantly raised high over the destruction......... still standing tall..... it really is in itself a a small miracle ......... maybe that was it.......

But you know I have a feeling I was really there primarily to keep my eye out for the missing kitty.......... We had on our first evening under the cross....... met a rather lovely old lady who had been living in supported accommodation for the elderly....... Her house had stood here on this site before the tornado........ She had fortunately made it into her basement storage unit and survived in that safe chamber as her house above was entirely destroyed and then blown away...... she and her neighbor both survived although sadly 8 others in that supported community died........ All the houses were now obliterated.

Anyway that nice old lady........ She was now back..... alone........ searching for her cat in the rubble........

I thought at first she was a little crazy putting out food on her step with the house so far gone that it was hard to even understand where it once stood ..........

She was such a lovely woman....... and she talked movingly but practically about her pet of 14 years.......... she was great...........

Suddenly there was a small grey cat....... hey look ! .......... Look a Kitty !!!!!! ....... Sadly it was not hers....... maybe it was her neighbor's Kitty ........... but I knew then she was not crazy at all....... a small kitty cat had survived....... why not another too...... the grey cat was still to scared to come over and be picked up.

The next two nights I saw they grey cat again....... and another grey striped one.......... Maybe that was the much loved pet ....... both cats were eating the food that the lady had put down. Both were still too scared to allow me to approach them.

I would really have liked to have caught that little missing kitty and taken her back to her rather wonderful owner........ it would have been nice to do one small thing to help......... just one small thing ........... to try and put right just that one small thing in this terrible sea of destruction and tragedy.

Cheers Jez XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

PS........... I will put up more pictures and link to the article online and let you know which publication to buy when the thing hits the streets

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